ALARMING SCALE OF PLASTIC WASTE POLLUTION IN WORLD’S OCEANS

Download Teaching Aid Check out this infographic kindly provided by Direct Packaging Solutions to see the extent of damage we’ve manage to cause to our oceans. You can also download and print it out for educational use here. New Ocean Barrier In September 2018, a £20 million project was launched from San Francisco, aiming to rid the ocean of plastic waste by using a 2,000ft long barrier (Nicknamed ‘Wilson’ or ‘System 001’) in order to collect plastic waste floating in the ocean, specifically around The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where the system is currently deployed. The Great Pacific Garbage patch is the largest accumulation of plastic within the world’s oceans and is around 3 times the size of France. Ditch Single Use Plastics The United Nations Environment Programme – Also known as ‘UNEP’, is currently urging people to do their part in helping to eliminate microplastics from the world’s oceans, while also aiming to put an end to the excessive and wasteful use of single-use plastics such as bottles, plastic bags and much more. All of these single-use plastics can be extremely harmful to aquatic life, as well as the environment. Many people aren’t aware, but around 80% of all litter within the world’s oceans is some kind of plastic. Recent reports suggest that as much as 51 trillion microplastic (Yes, we said trillion, with 12 zero’s after it) particles currently pollute our oceans – meaning there are around 400-500 times more microplastic particles in the oceans than there are stars in the Milky Way (Estimated at between 150-250 billion stars). Stop Ocean Destruction The world’s oceans make up almost 70% of the Earth’s surface, and while this is the case, we’re still a LONG way from understanding our oceans, with 80% of all the world’s oceans currently unmapped and unexplored. Yet, we’re already managing to destroy them... Change Your Lifestyle But why should we leave it to others to fix when many of us are just as (if not more) to blame than those currently working to clean it up. Well, we’re not suggesting you spend £20 million on a new project in order to try and make a difference (While that would of course help, and would go a long way), but with some simple lifestyle changes you could make a bigger difference than you realise. Something as simple as ditching plastic water bottles, in favour of BPA free, stainless steel drinks bottles, such as these from Jerry Bottle. Stop using single-use plastic carrier bags, and just generally think about small ways you can make a difference by removing plastic from your life. Choose Recycled Plastics And of course, you can use recycled plastic products instead of traditional materials where possible. You’ll find a wide selection of building and construction materials as well benches, picnic tables and more on Kedel’s websites. All made from the waste plastics you through into your recycling.

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